The Laurens advertiser. (Laurens, S.C.) 1885-1973, 1887-11-09
a pIca Eor The Birds.


/ have read ~ good deal about the
damage done in late years by chinch
bugs, army worms, curculio, borers and
other insects ''too numerous to men,
tom bat few of tho writer's seem 10
ttiuE or be conscious of the real reason
To- the increasing number and harmful
mess of these pests. But we do not have
to go far TO find tho reason, and it is
found in tho widespread and outrageous
destruction of u;r birds. Think of tho
enormous number Of small birds re-
quirod 10 dec ladies hats nowadays;
and of the ruined crops Of hundreds of
farmers and lruit growers i'm the United
States, AND ask if the latter is not the
result OF the former. OF course it is; no
II will or can dispute it. What is to
BE- done? Something; and no time
should be lost in doing it. The Amcri-
cam Humane Society is, | think, doing
Il good work in this direction, and
woUld in time blot out The bird-killing
business, especially as an adjunct to the
millinery trade OF the country; but it
cannot work q reform soon enough to
satisfy the pressing necessities of the
agricultural! interests. We must appeal
to law to stop tins Indirect Matching and
raising OF myriads OF insects to destroy
IN Nh'lP Va NHN a lkuiI Slo"Sl
and market gardener.
! DO not think n law against catching
birds would do much good, for it would
not be cnforccd; but | think n law pro-
hibiting millincrs, both wholesale and
retail, from handling these ghostlv orna-
mcnts would have the desired effect, and
with such Il law we might, in time, have
our birds as plentiful and useful as they
were Il few years ago, before this bloody
war on them began.
But small birds are not the only in
sect eaters that arc being cX~,crminatcd
for frivolous purposes. Tho prairie
chickens are falling by the thousand by
the ruthless hand OF the market shooter
that vile blot upon the human race;
cruel rs Il iicnd, grasping rs q miscr;
lazy rs asiO.h; brainlcss as an idiot, and
for harmtulncsS ranking next to the
devil himself. Why allow this low-livcd
specimen OF humanity TO ply his das-
tNrdly and destructive work under the
very nose of the farmer he is iniuring?
Why not send him to the ~poorhousc.
asylum or pcnilCntiary, where he could
be kept with much less expense TO the
farmers, who are now supporting himP
But here is Il point that puzzles me.
Is it the shot, the blood, the broken
bones, or the feathers, that makes prai-
rie chicken meat such 4 dclicacyp If
tame fowl were brought on the table in
the condition in which the prairie
chicken is usually served, it would be
considered entirely unfit to eat: so J
don't think the cpicurcan public would
lose much if prairie chicken shooting
Should BE- prohibited by law the year
round, Tor ut least five years, and longer
If the birds were not plentiful enough at
The end OF that time. | think thcro
would be little or no objection to such
Il law. Every sportsman in the United
States would like 1t, and of course every
farmer would commend it; even tho
market shooter would endorse it If he
had brains enough to comprehend its
advantages, for now he can hardly earn
fifty cents u day, owing to tho scarcity
OF game, whilc five years of tins law
, would DC likely to leave n flock Of the
birds on every tcn-acrc lot. Don't say
they would injure the CROPS then; surely
6 no candid person cun think that. From
Apr, ls,!o July l0'h there is no grain
Ion 'icE TO gG', 50 duVimg that tim
il.E &c W3..n" Il var OF cNtcrmiua-
+, ton uJnli q; great many kinds of harm
tn. b" ec,>, and when the grain does
4 cu@rh they stu prefer insects for the
most OF t!Icir food, and only pick Il little
"A grain t. sgaSou '',n insects that, but fol-
a lhru, would GN more damage on an
. acre than III. i..ds would do on ten.
fNrn tlsc grain il harvested inside OF
TWO weeks ui,cr 1t becomes ca;ablc fUl
4 ll.cm, w,rcm they have 10 fall back on
insects a|tiu.
: NoW nurc is Il chance for some law
= make. 80 cover himself all over with
e .u... NHo viii come to the front and